Electrical Stuff

[mlewis73]

I have an '06 being built... was wondering how the electrical system is.



Reason I ask is that the trailer nearly burned my '91 F-350 to the ground. Just a couple tows with the horse trailer and my headlight switch and wiring harness were black.



Amazing that Ford was so stupid. Let's build a truck to pull BIG trailers with lots of lights, but under-engineer the headlight switch and associated wiring harness.



Idiots.



I'm hoping that won't be the case with the new Ram.



How are 6-pin wiring harnesses for horse trailers wired into the new Rams? Is there a connector specifically for this purpose, or will an installer have to jerry-rig the system (I HOPE NOT!)



Also, can anyone say definitively whether a SmartBrake controller voids warranty since it taps into the brake system.



Thank you,



Mike

 

[Alan Reagan]

I don't think you will have that problem with this truck.



Almost all of the electrical (if not all on an 06) is controlled by a computer signal now which handles the power through a something similar to software controlled electrical bus system instead of having a switch in series with the load (which is what caused your problem with the Ford). For instance, you will notice a slight delay from the time you turn on your headlights until they actually come on.



In looking at how the system is set up, it seems to be pretty safe and well designed. So far, troubleshooting has been pretty straight forward. The only two problems I've seen were harness connectors that weren't fully locked together.



Unless something has changed, your circular connector will come as part of the tow package. Mine is mounted in the bumper to the left of the tag mount.



Can't help on the brake controller. Mine ties in through the harness supplied with the truck.

 

[p-Bar]

You will like the setup, plug for the brake controller comes in the glove box from the factory and plugs in under the dash. I haven't read of any problems other than the initial wiring of the controller which was probably human error.

 

[Silver600]

The 06 has all the trailer wiring on seperate fused circuits from the truck so it won't be drawing any extra current through the light switch. They also come with the flat 4 pin and 7 blade RV connections for the trailer. You will just need the 7 blade rv to 6 pin adapter for your horse trailer.

 

[cojhl2]

My opinion,, you should always use a relay for trailer wires. You can't fault the pickup mfg for not being able to predict how many lights we run on these trailers.



If I had my way my trailers would look like a christmas tree coming down the hiway.



Edit:

Almost all of the electrical (if not all on an 06) is controlled by a computer signal now which handles the power through a something similar to software controlled electrical bus system instead of having a switch in series

Going back I see Alan has already described this as std equip!!

 

[ALyon]

I think that a word of caution is in order. There were posts earlier in the year of members frying a three hundred dollar module because some of the trailer wiring is not fuse protected and their trailer wiring was shorted or incorrect. A couple of the posters built fuse protection into the line between the trailer and Dodge wiring. It still is not clear to me whether only the turn/stop wires or some other grouping of wires derive their power by routing through the integrated electronics of the PCM then to the trailer tow wiring without fuse protection, but it is clear that you can fry an expensive part of your electronics if the trailer wiring is wrong. Based on the earlier posts and confirmation by my dealer's service department that the situation exists, I have invested in a test box which tests trailer wiring and built a fuse box for plugging between the 7-way of the truck and any trailer I hook up. I also changed the 6-way of my horse trailer to a 7-way and due to test failures ended up rewiring my flat-bed. I think that you'll be happy with the '06 diesel Dodge, but be cautious when you do things to the wiring or hook up a trailer.

 

[mlewis73]

I think that a word of caution is in order. There were posts earlier in the year of members frying a three hundred dollar module because some of the trailer wiring is not fuse protected and their trailer wiring was shorted or incorrect. A couple of the posters built fuse protection into the line between the trailer and Dodge wiring. It still is not clear to me whether only the turn/stop wires or some other grouping of wires derive their power by routing through the integrated electronics of the PCM then to the trailer tow wiring without fuse protection, but it is clear that you can fry an expensive part of your electronics if the trailer wiring is wrong. Based on the earlier posts and confirmation by my dealer's service department that the situation exists, I have invested in a test box which tests trailer wiring and built a fuse box for plugging between the 7-way of the truck and any trailer I hook up. I also changed the 6-way of my horse trailer to a 7-way and due to test failures ended up rewiring my flat-bed. I think that you'll be happy with the '06 diesel Dodge, but be cautious when you do things to the wiring or hook up a trailer.

What kind of test box?? Also... any intell on how to wire fuses into the line between the trailer and the truck?



I had an aftermarket relay added to my '91 F-350 to get the load off the headlight switch and pigtail... worked well.





Thank you,



Mike

 

[Silver600]

Also... any intell on how to wire fuses into the line between the trailer and the truck?

You won't need to, there are three fuses for parking lights under the hood, left side of truck, right side of truck and a seperate one for the trailer. The parking lights are the only ones that will be constantly on, the brake lights and turn signals are momentary. I am pretty sure they are seperate circuits too because when you use the keyless entry it flashes the turn signals on the truck but not the trailer.

 

[ALyon]

Test set is a "Hoppy" product - www.trailerwiring.com then page 2 of misc. I bought mine through Northern Tool.



I built a fuse box with female 7-way epoxied to it on one side and male pig-tail out the other side. It plugs between my trailer and into the tow package 7-way of the truck. In effect, I'm fusing my trailer wiring before it meets the truck. Granted the power for the circuits comes from the truck side, but hopefully a short or incorrect wiring on the trailer would blow a 10 amp fuse in the box before the returning current could overload my truck's electronics.



I may be paranoid and none of my precautions may be necessary, however, I'd encourage you to research previous posts of the past several months and form your own opinion. The idea of a fuse box between the truck and trailer is not my idea, I lifted it off of an earlier thread.